


The Beginning After The End

by lancethelivingmeme



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Season 8 Spoilers, Slow Burn, eventually, hoo boy feels, its three AM and I don't know what year it is anymore, wait am I properly tagging something?, will there be smut? even I don't know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-18 02:46:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16986690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lancethelivingmeme/pseuds/lancethelivingmeme
Summary: SEASON 8 SPOILERS!!!!This was it. It was all over. It was all finally over. Yet with all that's happened... was it really the end?A story of lasts, firsts, and finding hope after it seemed long lost.





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> WOAH WOAH WOAH YA GIRL's BACK WRITING THIS SHIT AT THREE AM AFTER WATCHING THE FINAL SEASON AND SOBBING MY EYES OUT. Of course, I couldn't let it end there. But as stated in the description, ***THERE ARE MAJOR SEASON 8 SPOILERS IN THIS, SO PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK***

It was warm. Like,  _too_  warm. 

That was the first thing Keith registered as he stepped off of the ship and onto the soil of Altea, back from another aid mission with the Blade of Marmora. He didn't recall it being this warm outside when he'd left, but then again he had been gone for nearly a month on this particular aid mission. 

"I'll take these reports to Shiro," Axca's voice startled Keith out of his own thoughts. "Can you send the rest of the files over to the Holt family?" 

"On it. Thanks for the help," Keith said as he grabbed his things. A nod from Axca was all he got before both turned to go their separate ways. Walking through the streets of Altea was almost surreal even now, almost two years after the planet had reappeared and they'd settled there. Keith quickly made his way inside the castle, which was now mostly a hub for the former defenders of the universe to meet when necessary or to communicate. Once in his own room, Keith opened a comm line with the Holts, which was unsurprisingly picked up by Pidge. 

"Hey Keith! How was the last mission?" Pidge said with far too much energy in her voice. 

"Long, but it went well. I'm sending over the reports now. If you could have some trainees go check out the status in a week or so, that would be perfect," Keith said as he uploaded the mission files and sent them over. 

"Gotcha."

"Thanks."

"So, how have you been? I know you've been off on missions, but still. Done anything fun? Maybe found someone-"

"Nope. Not discussing this. And you know I've been on missions for the past four months straight, so I wouldn't have the time anyway," Keith replied stiffly. Pidge laughed.

"I had to ask. But seriously man, take some time off for once, alright?" Pidge said with a chuckle. "You've gotta be overworked at this point."

"I guess so," Keith replied. Pidge hummed in response, and all was silent for a moment as she opened the mission reports. 

"Hey, Keith?" Pidge asked after a moment as she scanned the files. 

"What is it?" Keith replied. 

"Is there any possibility you could check on Lance? He's... even now he still gets lost in his own mind sometimes." Keith paused at this, pondering for a moment. 

"Yeah, I will. I suppose next you're also going to tell me to take some time off, too?" Keith said. 

"Yes, actually. I got a message from Shiro the other day. It was from your mother. She's banning you from missions for a month."

" _What_?" 

"Yep. You're taking a forced month off. Go have fun. Sleep. I don't know, do whatever you want as long as it's not a mission or work-related," Pidge said as she closed the files. Keith groaned. 

"Fine. One month. But after that, I'm going straight back to the missions."

"After one month I don't give a shit, so knock yourself out," Pidge said with a smirk. "Now go chill or something, and don't forget to talk to Lance!" Pidge said before closing the comm line. Keith sat back in his chair. One month off. The most time he'd had since starting these missions was a week, and even then he could barely handle not being out in the field. With a sigh he stood, figuring he could start this break by listening to Pidge and checking on Lance. It wouldn't take long to find him. 

Sadly, it never took long. 

Keith stepped into the shadow of Allura's statue a few minutes later, seeing a familiar figure sitting on a bench not far from it. 

"Hey, Lance," Keith said as he walked up. Lance jumped a bit, turning around to see who it was.

"Oh my god, Keith, you scared the shit out of me!" Lance said with a small laugh. 

"Sorry. Can I sit?" Keith asked. Lance nodded and scooted over a bit on the bench. "So... how have you been?"

"Let me guess, Pidge asked you to talk to me?" Lance immediately asked. The look on Keith's face apparently gave away the answer, as Lance sighed. "I'm fine. I don't know why everyone thinks i'm not. I just... I miss her," Lance said quietly. 

"I know. We all do. But its been nearly two years... don't you think it's time to move on?" Keith asked, trying to word his statement carefully. 

"Move on?"

"I'm not saying you forget her, Lance. I'm just trying to say this. She wouldn't want you hanging onto this forever. You know that's true as much as I do. If she saw you now, sitting here every day and only leaving when you're talking to the local kids, she'd want you to get up, do something, be happy again," Keith replied. Lance looked up at the statue for a moment, before his eyes looked downwards. 

"I know. I know this isn't what she'd want me to do. I just don't know how to do anything else. And with everyone so spread apart, there's not much else to do." 

"Well then, it's your lucky month," Keith deadpanned. 

"Huh?" Lance asked, rightfully confused. 

"My mom's making me take a month off of the missions. Something about overworking myself. I've got a whole lot of time to kill," Keith told him. 

"You... want to help me?"

"What are friends for, Lance?" 

"True," Lance said with a soft laugh. "And you're right. I do need help, and I do need to move on. A long enough distraction should help, right?" 

"I guess we're about to find out. Should we meet up in the castle tomorrow?" Keith asked. 

"Sounds good to me," Lance said as Keith stood. "See you then?"

"Yeah, see you then," Keith said as he walked back towards the castle. 

One month couldn't hurt, right? 


	2. Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I initially started this chapter in my AP English Lang class after I finished my final but I got distracted by a group chat and now i'm a week into winter break and JUST NOW WRITING THIS. Sorry? Well its here now. Faster than most of my updates are. 
> 
> Suggestion: While reading this, listen to Neptune by Sleeping at Last. It came on shuffle while I was writing and heavily influenced this chapter. I also slipped some of the lyrics in there in a few spots.

Lance woke the day after Keith's initial visit feeling oddly different than he had lately. Usually, he awoke to feel a sort of emptiness... he knew why, but as much as he had accepted what had happened his heart had never seemed to get the memo. 

Today was... different. 

Lance woke up and it was like the world had flipped upside down. There was no empty feeling, for the first time in months. He looked out the window and saw not another day without  _her_ , but a day where he felt like he could finally live without guilt and sadness of  _her_  clawing at him. 

Of course, that was likely because it was raining. That always did have a way of making Lance happy beyond belief. He raced to get dressed, and sprinted out of his room and into the hall, bare feet slipping slightly on sleek floors. His feet made little noise as they pounded down the long hallway. He turned sloppily around the corner, and-

-ran directly into Keith. At full speed. 

Both of them went tumbling to the ground with a yelp. Keith sat up first, rubbing a now very sore hip bone with one hand. 

"Lance  _please_ tell me why you were running down the halls at full speed and thought it would be smart?" Keith asked. Lance's response was in the form of soft laughter. Keith looked over to see him still on the floor, in the same position he'd fallen in... giggling? 

"It's  _raining_ , Keith."

"I see that. Is there supposed to be some deeper meaning behind that, or...?" Keith trailed off. 

"Not really," Lance said, finally sitting up. "It just means today is gonna be... good. Yeah, good." Lance stood up, offering a hand to Keith. He took it, standing up. 

"That's... well that's good. Oh, and the others are going to be here soon for lunch. Do you know any good places?" Keith asked. Lance nodded. 

"There's this really good place in town, a family from Earth owns it. They've combined Altean and Earth cuisine perfectly. Hunk's gonna flip when we get there," Lance said as the two began to walk down the hall. Just before getting outside, Lance slipped on a pair of shoes by the large open archway leading to the courtyard in front of the castle. As he stepped out into the rain, Keith opened his mouth to remind him to grab an umbrella, but he couldn't get the words out when he looked at the sight in front of him. 

Lance ran into the open space of the courtyard, spinning and laughing in the rain as if every drop that landed on him gave him life itself. 

Keith could only stare. Something in his chest twisted at the sight, a warm but confused feeling. It was a feeling Keith was familiar with, but only vaguely, as he hadn't felt it in years at this point. Why it was coming back now, he had no clue. Why it was coming back  _at all_  was another, much more important thing to figure out at the moment. 

_I want to_ -

"Keith!" Lance's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, as he looked back at Lance with clear eyes. "You coming? Or are you going to stand there all morning?" Lance called as he stopped spinning. Keith grabbed his umbrella, getting ready to open it, before casting another look at Lance. 

He left it where Lance had left his shoes, and stepped out into the gentle rain. 

"Let's go," Keith said as he walked over to Lance, and the two walked out of the courtyard and into town. It was a short walk, and soon they left behind the silence of the castle and were engulfed by the sounds of the town marketplace. 

Even in the rain, it was a lively place, stalls always open selling any manner of things, storefronts behind them housing anything from stores to hotels to restaurants. It reminded Keith of Earth's farmer's markets, with everything locally grown or made and a personal touch on every item. Colorful umbrellas bobbed back and forth underneath the gray sky, warm lights from the stalls illuminating them softly from the underside. Lance walked from stall to stall, looking at what they had to offer, occasionally making small talk with the vendors. He finally stopped at a small booth selling handmade jewelry. 

"Keith, look! It's perfect for you!" Lance cried, holding up a small bracelet. Keith stepped closer to look at it. The bracelet was made of leather- or some Altean alternative- with a small knife carved out of stone at its center. Keith chuckled. 

"I guess it is," Keith said warmly. Lance set it back down, before running off to another stall. Keith hovered back a bit, glancing back at the jewelry stall once more before walking slowly along the bustling street. Somewhere ahead of him, he heard the call of a familiar voice. 

"Keith! Hello, can you hear me?" Pidge called from ahead in the crowd. Keith looked through the crowd of people to spot Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro, waving from under their umbrellas. Lance saw them at the same time Keith did, as both of them ran over to the trio, giving each of them hugs. 

"So, Lance, how have you been dude? It feels like we haven't seen you in forever!" Hunk said, throwing an arm around his best friend's shoulders. Lance laughed lightly. 

"I know, it's been way too long. And i've been... i've been pretty alright. How about you guys?" Lance asked. Pidge went on to explain something about a disaster one of the cadets had caused. The group began to walk, and Keith hung back a bit, but he was soon joined by Shiro. 

"How are you, Keith?" He asked. 

"Actually, I'm doing pretty good lately. How are you and Curtis?" Keith asked. Shiro smiled. 

"We're... we're fantastic. I never thought I would move on after Adam but... It never felt like it would last, even with everything that went down. But this... It feels  _right_. We've been pretty happy lately," Shiro said with a warm smile. 

"I'm happy for you, Shiro. After all that we've gone through with Voltron, you especially, happiness is more than earned," Keith replied. Shiro hummed in agreement. Keith turned his eyes to Lance in the silence that followed, as they had reached the restaurant that Lance had mentioned earlier. It was a quaint, cafe-type place, with cozy mismatched chairs and warm string lights making the place inviting on a rainy day. They all got in and seated, and were greeted by a friendly waitress who handed them laminated menus with a smile. Lance had been right, the food was mostly traditional Earth favorites with an Altean twist. After everyone ordered, the conversation picked back up as everyone sipped on their drinks. Keith stayed relatively quiet during all of this, his observant eyes flicking across the faces of his friends as they talked, occasionally adding a biting comment that earned many laughs. His eyes lingered on Lance, though. While he was certainly engaged in the conversation, there was something in his eyes that caught Keith's attention. While there was a smile on his face, it never seemed to reach his eyes, even when he laughed. They weren't dull, but they were... sheltered, almost. Not quite vacant, but set apart from the others. What Keith saw the most was the heavy eternal sadness buried in them, turning the ocean blue color of his eyes gray like the skies above them. 

_I don't know how-_

The arrival of food snapped him out of his trance yet again, and they all enjoyed their delicious meals with smiles on their faces. After they finished up, the trio had to depart, sadly, as they all had things to do later that day. After a few hugs goodbye and promises to see each other again soon, they left. Lance and Keith's eyes both followed their ships as they left, disappearing into the cloudy sky. 

Lance suggested they return to the marketplace to look around a bit more before heading to the castle once more. Lance's eye caught a booth he'd passed a few times before, but never really stopped at. It claimed to sell magical journals. Naturally, Lance was curious. 

"So... how do they work?" Lance asked the vendor, a petite lady with streaks of gray in her hair and smile lines on her cheeks. 

"They each have different enchantments on them. My personal favorite is this one, although its rather unpopular these days," She said, pointing to a small journal bound in a deep blue leather. 

"Why?" Lance asked, intrigued. 

"This is an honesty journal. Made for writing down your thoughts and feelings, but it knows if you're being truthful or not. The words will vanish if they aren't complete honesty." She picked up the journal, opening it to the first page. "Here, i'll show you." She grabbed a sort of Altean pen, writing in the journal ' _I'm three years old'_  and after finishing the last word, Lance gasped as it disappeared from the page as if it had never been there. 

"That's... incredible!" Lance said. The woman smiled. 

"Thank you, young man," She replied. Lance looked at the journal, the look on his face one of conflicted curiosity. This could be helpful for him. He knew that. But could he bring himself to be completely honest when it really came down to it?

_I'm only honest when it rains, an open book with a torn out page._

He figured he'd just have to find out.

"I'll take it," Lance said decisively after a moment. After paying the lady he slipped the journal into a pocket on the inside of his jacket, before turning to look for Keith. 

\--------

At the same time, Keith had returned to the small jewelry booth, his eyes instantly finding the small knife bracelet. As he looked around the rest of the display, he found himself drawn to a simple necklace. It had a brown cord, and a delicately intricate pattern bringing it together at the bottom. From that end hung a small oval-shaped pendant. It was striped with delicate waves of different colors, ranging from pale blue to gray to white. Parts were transparent, while others were solid. 

Keith picked up the bracelet and the necklace, paying for them before turning to find Lance. 

\--------

They found each other at nearly the same time. 

"So, you find anything interesting?" Lance asked. Keith laughed. 

"I went back and bought the stupid knife bracelet," Keith admitted, holding up his wrist to show it off. Lance burst out into laughter. "How about you?"

"Found some nice journals. I used to write in them before Voltron happened, I figured it might be a good thing to start up again," Lance said. 

"That's neat," Keith said. 

"Yeah," Lance replied, as they made their way back to the castle. Keith stopped him in the courtyard. 

"Hey, can we talk for a bit?" Keith asked. Lance looked confused, but nodded, and lead the two of them to a bench underneath a small stone gazebo, safe from the rain. They sat, in perfect silence, for nearly ten minutes, before Lance broke the silence. 

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked quietly. Keith contemplated his next words for a moment. 

"I remember what you said yesterday," He began. "But really... are you alright?" Lance froze at this.

"Why do you care?" Lance blurted out, looking at Keith with a face of incredulous disbelief. 

"Lance, why  _wouldn't_ I care? You're one of my best friends, and after everything we've been through in these past few years, tell me one reason why I wouldn't care," Keith replied, setting a hand on Lance's shoulder. Lance stared at him for a moment, processing what had been said, before a choked sob escaped his lips. A hand came to his face, the heel of his palm pressing against his eye to try to stop the tears from flowing, but it was too late. 

_If brokenness is a work of art, surely this must be my masterpiece._

"I'm sorry," Lance said, trying to pull himself together when it was clear that he needed this right now. 

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Lance, it's okay to cry. Its okay to  _feel_ , man," Keith said. At that, Lance crumpled, sobs causing him to shake. Keith pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, and Lance wrapped his arms around Keith, shaking fingers gripping the back of Keith's jacket like the world would crumble if he let go. Keith muttered what he could to comfort him, arms holding him securely. Even after Lance's sobs died down into sniffles, Keith still held on. 

"Thanks," Lance mumbled into Keith's shoulder. 

"Anytime," Keith replied quietly, still holding on. "Sometimes we all just need to... let it out, you know?" 

"Yeah," Lance said. He sat up then, releasing his grip on Keith's jacket. Keith let go then too, but he knew that he'd let his hands linger for a moment longer than necessary. "Sorry if I got tears and snot on your jacket," Lance said with a watery chuckle. 

"Its fine, I needed to wash it anyway," Keith said. 

"Gross," Lance said, laughing. 

"But seriously, I care, Lance. And if you ever need to just cry again, or if you want to talk about it... I'm here," Keith said. Lance looked at him and saw the genuine look in his eyes, and smiled. 

"Thanks, Keith," He replied. His pocket began to buzz, and he pulled out a communication device. "Crap, I forgot I was speaking to a school group today. I've gotta run," He said, wiping tear tracks off his face. "I'll see you soon?" 

"Yeah," Keith said. "I'll be around."

"Great, see you soon. And thanks again!" Lance called as he ran off towards the courtyard on the other side of the castle. Keith remained there. The necklace still sat where he'd left it, its stone cold and smooth as he reached into his pocket to hold it. He looked out at the rain, still falling softly yet steadily on the Altean soil. For the first time all day, a rumble of thunder was heard rolling across the sky. Keith stood and stepped out into the rain.

He let the cool water run over his face, washing away his own tears as quickly they formed. 

_I want to love you, but I don't know how._

He walked back to the castle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOAH OK THAT GOT EMOTIONAL FOR CHAPTER TWO GOD DAMN BUT IM PROUD I BROKE 2k WORDS IN A SINGLE CHAPTER.
> 
> Someone please, please, draw the marketplace scenes, the lunch scene, or the gazebo scene. I will cry. Like for real.
> 
> (if you do, tag me or send it to lancethelivingmeme on instagram) 
> 
> I finally know where this might be going. As always, comments and votes are greatly appreciated, and I love you all!
> 
> See you in the next chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> Me? have inspiration to write? It's more likely than you think. I have no idea what my update schedule is going to be like. Essentially as long as i'm inspired, i'll write.   
> (cross posted on Wattpad)


End file.
